Best Ranger Spells in D&D 5e (2014) - Ranked

Introduction

Ranger spell selection works differently than every other half-caster or full caster in the game, and that difference should drive every pick you make. A Cleric or Druid prepares spells fresh each day from their entire class list. A Ranger knows a fixed, small number of spells permanently, the same way a Sorcerer or Warlock does. There is no daily reshuffle. Whatever you choose at 2nd level, you are carrying into most of your early combats, and every slot in that short list is competing against every other spell on the Ranger spell list for a permanent seat.

That constraint is the entire design problem this guide solves. A Cleric guide or a Druid guide can afford to rank spells loosely, because a bad pick today gets swapped out at the next long rest. A Ranger guide cannot. Pick wrong at 2nd level and you are stuck with a dead spell slot until you level up and get to swap exactly one. This guide ranks Ranger spells by what a known-spells caster actually needs: reliability across many encounters, not peak ceiling in one.

The mechanics matter too. Rangers do not get spellcasting until 2nd level, unlike full casters who start at 1st. Spell slots cap at 5th level - the highest slot a Ranger ever has is a 5th-level slot, reached at character level 17, and even then you only have one or two of them. This is not a caster who out-spells a Wizard. It is a martial character whose small, curated known-spells list should function as build-defining tools, not a backup spellbook.

---

Disclaimer

• ● Red: Bad. Actively weak or a trap pick for the known-spells format.
• ● Orange: Situational. Correct in specific builds or campaigns, not a default.
• ● Green: Good. Reliable and worth a permanent slot in most builds.
• ● Blue: Fantastic. Best-in-class, almost always worth knowing.

---

How Ranger Spellcasting Actually Works

Before ranking individual spells, the mechanical shape of the class needs to be clear, because it changes which spells are worth a permanent slot.

Known spells, not prepared spells

A Cleric, Druid, and Paladin all prepare spells daily from their entire class list, limited only by a formula tied to level and ability modifier. A Ranger does not. You choose a fixed number of spells you know permanently when you gain access to them, and that number only grows a little at a time: 2 known spells at 2nd level, climbing gradually to 11 known spells by 20th level. You can swap exactly one known spell for a different one whenever you gain a Ranger level, but at any given moment your entire spell repertoire is that short list - nothing else is available to you, ever, no matter how badly a fight calls for it.

This is the single biggest reason a Ranger spell guide has to look different from a Cleric or Druid spell guide. Those classes can carry a wide net of situational answers because they reprepare every day. A Ranger commits. Pick Hunter's Mark, Ensnaring Strike, and Pass Without Trace at low levels, and those three spells are what you have until your next level-up gives you one swap.

Spell slots start late and cap early

Ranger spellcasting begins at 2nd level, not 1st, and the highest-level slot a Ranger ever gets is a 5th-level slot - reached at 17th character level, and even then capped at two slots. Compare that to a full caster reaching 9th-level slots by the same point. The Ranger's spell list was built around this ceiling: nearly every strong Ranger spell is designed to be excellent as a 1st- through 5th-level effect, because the class was never going to cast anything higher. That is also why the list leans so heavily on damage riders, battlefield control, and self-buffs rather than the reality-bending spells full casters get at 6th level and up.

A simplified look at the curve, at the levels where something changes meaningfully for spell selection:

The bonus action and concentration bottleneck

Nearly every strong early Ranger spell wants a bonus action, a concentration slot, or both. Hunter's Mark needs a bonus action to cast and concentration to hold. Ensnaring Strike needs concentration on your next hit. Swift Quiver, at 5th-level slots, needs both a bonus action every turn and concentration throughout. This puts spells in direct competition with your weapon rotation: a Two-Weapon Fighting Ranger who wants a bonus-action off-hand attack every round has much less room for a bonus-action spell than an Archery-style Ranger firing a single shot per action. Decide your action economy before you decide your known spells, not after - the Ranger class guide covers this tradeoff between Two-Weapon Fighting and concentration spellcasting in more depth.

Tasha's Cauldron of Everything's Favored Foe optional feature changes this math for the better: it applies Hunter's Mark-equivalent damage on a hit without spending a spell slot, a bonus action, or concentration, freeing your one concentration slot for Ensnaring Strike or Spike Growth instead. If your table allows it, Favored Foe should shift your known-spell priorities away from Hunter's Mark and toward the control spells this guide ranks highest below.

Why the known-spells format sharpens your choices

Because you cannot reprepare, a spell that is merely "good sometimes" is a worse pick than a spell that is "reliably useful," even if the sometimes-spell has a higher ceiling. This guide's rankings reflect that bias deliberately. Spike Growth beats a flashier option because it is useful in nearly every outdoor and dungeon encounter alike. Conjure Animals beats options with a higher theoretical damage output because it is never a dead pick regardless of what the enemy resists. When two spells are mechanically close, the tiebreaker in this guide always favors the one that works across more encounter types - that is what a known-spells caster actually needs.

---

1st-Level Spells

Hunter's Mark - ●

Hunter's Mark is the Ranger's signature damage spell for a reason: mark a creature you can see, and every weapon attack you land against it deals an extra 1d6 damage for the duration. If the target drops before the spell ends, you can move the mark to a new target as a bonus action instead of recasting. No attack roll of its own, no save for the enemy to shrug it off, and it scales automatically with every extra attack you gain from Extra Attack or Swift Quiver. Upcasting adds no extra damage, but you can maintain it for up to 8 hours at 3rd-level slots or higher, which matters for long dungeon crawls with sporadic fights. The main cost is the bonus action and concentration slot, which competes directly with Two-Weapon Fighting and with every other concentration spell on this list - decide early which build you are running.

---

Ensnaring Strike - ●

Cast as a bonus action, then your next weapon hit this turn forces a Strength save or the target becomes restrained by thorny vines, taking 1d6 piercing damage on a failed save (half on success) and again each turn it tries and fails to escape. Restrained means disadvantage on its attacks and advantage for the whole party attacking it back - a solid lockdown effect for a 1st-level slot. The catch: it needs a hit to trigger at all, then a failed save to actually restrain, and it does nothing against anything immune to being restrained (oozes, many constructs, most flying and incorporeal foes). Best as a melee Ranger's answer to a single dangerous brute, not a general-purpose pick, and it competes for the same concentration slot as Hunter's Mark.

---

Goodberry - ●

Ten magic berries, each restoring 1 hit point and providing a full day's nourishment on its own. No concentration, no attack roll, cast it on a short rest and hand them out. The healing is trivial in combat, but as a resource for eliminating your party's food supply concerns on a long wilderness trek, one 1st-level slot a day feeds the whole party indefinitely. Worth a known slot for any Ranger running an exploration or survival-heavy campaign; skip it for a dungeon-crawl-only game where food logistics never come up.

---

Fog Cloud - ●

A 20-foot-radius sphere of heavily obscured fog, centered wherever you choose within range. It blocks line of sight both ways, which makes it useful for breaking up a ranged ambush against your party, covering a retreat, or forcing melee-only enemies to close blind. Cheap and flexible, but it competes for concentration against Hunter's Mark and does not deal damage, so it is a situational pick for parties that get caught in the open by archers or spellcasters more than it is a default.

---

Hail of Thorns - ●

Cast as a bonus action, then your next ranged weapon attack this turn causes thorny vines to burst from the struck target: every creature within 5 feet of it (including the original target) makes a Dexterity save or takes 1d10 piercing damage, half on a success. It is the only 1st-level Ranger spell built specifically around ranged weapon attacks rather than melee, and against clustered enemies it turns a single arrow into an area effect. Upcasting adds 1d10 per slot level above 1st. The tradeoff against Hunter's Mark is real: Hail of Thorns is a one-shot area burst, Hunter's Mark is sustained single-target damage. Archery Rangers who regularly face grouped enemies should consider it as their second known 1st-level spell rather than a Hunter's Mark replacement.

---

2nd-Level Spells

Spike Growth - ●

A 20-foot-radius area becomes difficult terrain, and any creature moving through it takes 2d4 piercing damage per 5 feet traveled. The area is also disguised to look like normal ground unless a creature succeeds on a passive Perception check against your spell save DC, which means enemies charging into it the first time take the damage before they realize what happened. Against a group of enemies that has to close distance to reach your party - which is most enemy groups - this spell alone can deal more total damage over a fight than most direct-damage spells at the same level, and it does so without a single attack roll or save on your end. One of the best control spells at any level in the entire game, not just for Rangers.

---

Pass Without Trace - ●

Every creature within 30 feet of you gains a +10 bonus to Stealth checks for the duration, and the whole group becomes impossible to track by nonmagical means. A +10 bonus is enormous - it takes a party that fails Stealth checks regularly and makes them functionally invisible to passive Perception for most encounters. The concentration cost means you cannot also hold Hunter's Mark, so this is a pre-combat or exploration pick rather than an in-combat one, but for a party built around ambush or avoidance it single-handedly makes stealth viable as a strategy rather than a coin flip.

---

Silence - ●

No sound can pass out of or into a 20-foot-radius sphere anywhere within range. Anyone entirely inside is deafened, and casting any spell with a verbal component becomes impossible inside the area. Against a caster-heavy encounter - cultists, enemy spellcasters, anything with Counterspell or a save-or-suck spell repertoire - dropping Silence on the enemy caster's position shuts down their entire spell list in one action. It does the same to your own party's casters if they are inside the radius, so placement matters. Situational, but it can end an encounter outright against the right target.

---

Darkvision - ●

Grants 60 feet of darkvision to a willing creature you touch for 8 hours. No concentration required, but it only matters at all if your party has a member without darkvision already - most non-human races in D&D 5e already have it natively, and most all-human parties solve this with mundane light sources instead. A narrow-utility pick that earns a known slot only in specific party compositions.

---

Barkskin - ●

Sets a touched willing creature's AC to a flat 16 if it is lower, ignoring armor and Dexterity for the duration. Useful only for a party member whose AC is currently below 16 - commonly a low-armor caster - and competes for concentration with everything else on this list. In practice, most Rangers find better uses for their one concentration slot than propping up an ally's AC; keep it as a bench option for parties with a fragile spellcaster whose AC never breaks 14.

---

Summon Beast - ●

A Tasha's Cauldron addition. Conjures a single beast-themed spirit ally that shares your initiative and scales with the slot spent, instead of the multiple separate creatures Conjure Animals produces one level higher. Simpler to run at the table than Conjure Animals' turn-length problem, but it gives up the raw action-economy swing that makes Conjure Animals so strong for a Ranger.

Air Bubble - ●

A Spelljammer: Adventures in Space addition. Creates a 24-hour globe of fresh air around a willing creature's head, no concentration required, upcasting to two additional globes per slot level above 2nd. Dead weight on a standard overland campaign, but a zero-drawback fill for a Wildspace campaign's air-quality clock or a prolonged underwater scenario a Ranger's usual survival toolkit doesn't otherwise cover.

---

3rd-Level Spells

Conjure Animals - ●

Summons a number of fey spirits in the form of beasts, appearing in unoccupied spaces you can see within range - one creature of challenge rating 2 or lower, two of CR 1 or lower, four of CR 1/2 or lower, or eight of CR 1/4 or lower. Every summon acts on your turn under your command, and the raw action-economy swing is enormous: eight extra creatures attacking is more total damage output than nearly anything else a Ranger can produce with a single spell slot at this level. Upcasting doubles the count per slot level above 3rd. The tradeoff is table speed - resolving eight simultaneous attack rolls slows combat down, and some GMs restrict or ban the spell for exactly that reason. Confirm with your GM before building around it.

---

Lightning Arrow - ●

Cast as a bonus action, then for the duration each ranged weapon attack you make replaces its normal damage with 4d8 lightning damage (half on a miss instead of zero), and on a hit every other creature within 10 feet of the target takes 2d8 lightning damage on a failed Dexterity save. This is a spike-damage spell for a single big turn rather than sustained value: cast it, then unload every attack you have that turn, and both your primary target and anything standing near it take substantial damage even on a miss. The half-damage-on-a-miss clause is unusually generous for a Ranger spell and makes it far more reliable than a normal attack roll on its own. Best saved for a turn where you know you are about to land multiple hits, not a default opener.

---

Conjure Barrage - ●

Hurl a nonmagical weapon in a 60-foot cone; every creature in the area makes a Dexterity save, taking 3d8 damage on a failure or half on a success. No concentration required, which is the spell's whole selling point: it is a Fireball-shaped area burst that leaves your concentration slot free for Hunter's Mark or Spike Growth in the same fight. The damage type matches whatever weapon you throw (piercing for an arrow, slashing for an axe), which matters against enemies with specific resistances. A strong option for an archery Ranger who wants one big area hit without giving up their sustained concentration spell.

---

Plant Growth - ●

The 1-action version makes normal plants within a 100-foot radius grow thick and overgrown, turning the whole area into difficult terrain for anyone unfamiliar with it. The 8-hour version instead triples the crop yield of farmland, which is purely a downtime and roleplay tool. As a combat spell, it is Spike Growth without the damage: useful for locking down a large area in an outdoor encounter, but strictly worse than Spike Growth when both are available, since Spike Growth does everything Plant Growth does plus meaningful damage. Take it only after Spike Growth is already covered and you specifically need a wider footprint.

---

Water Walk - ●

Grants up to ten willing creatures the ability to move across any liquid surface as if it were solid ground for the duration. No concentration, which is nice, but it solves one specific problem - crossing water - that many campaigns never present in a way that matters mechanically. An excellent pick for a nautical or swamp-heavy campaign and dead weight everywhere else. Read your campaign before committing a known slot to it.

---

Ashardalon's Stride - ●

From Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. A bonus-action self-buff granting +20 feet of speed, immunity to opportunity attacks while moving, and 1d6 fire damage to anything you pass within 5 feet of. Directly relevant to a Drakewarden, whose draconic theme it matches, and to any Ranger who wants to close distance or reposition between multiple enemies without provoking. Competes with Conjure Barrage and Lightning Arrow for the same concentration slot on a turn you'd rather be attacking, so it's a situational pick rather than a default 3rd-level prepared spell.

Summon Fey - ●

A Tasha's Cauldron addition restricted to fey stat blocks. Like Conjure Woodland Beings a level higher, it trades Conjure Animals' larger summon count for a smaller, more magically-capable pool - a niche pick unless your GM has made the fey summon options specifically stronger than the beast ones.

---

4th-Level Spells

Freedom of Movement - ●

The touched creature's speed can never be reduced, and it is immune to being paralyzed or restrained for the duration, plus it can spend extra movement to automatically escape a grapple. No concentration, and it single-handedly neutralizes an entire category of dangerous enemy abilities: grapple monsters, restrain-on-hit attacks, paralysis effects from ghouls and similar undead, and difficult terrain from control spells (including enemy Spike Growth used against you). Cast it on your party's melee frontline before a fight against a known grappler or paralysis threat and that threat simply stops working. One of the best defensive spells any half-caster gets access to.

---

Locate Creature - ●

Senses the direction to a specific creature you have seen before or a creature of a specific kind within 1,000 feet, as long as it is not behind running water or total cover. Excellent for tracking down a fled enemy, a kidnapped NPC, or a specific type of monster terrorizing a region in a wilderness or investigation-heavy campaign. Range-limited and blocked by running water, which a GM aware of the spell will sometimes plan around, but there is no better single-target tracking tool on the Ranger list.

---

Stoneskin - ●

Grants resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage for the duration, at the cost of a diamond dust material component worth 100 gp (consumed on cast). Powerful defensively but the material cost is real, ongoing gold sink for a spell you would want in nearly every fight if you cast it optimally - which makes it a poor fit for a Ranger's limited known-spell slots compared to Freedom of Movement's zero-cost, always-relevant utility. Consider it only if your table has already solved the gold economy for you.

---

Conjure Woodland Beings - ●

Summons fey creatures similarly to Conjure Animals but restricted to fey stat blocks, with a smaller effective pool of useful summons at this level than Conjure Animals provides one level lower for a cheaper slot. In most campaigns this is a strict downgrade from taking Conjure Animals at 3rd level and simply upcasting it, unless your GM has specifically restricted or reflavored the fey summon table to be more interesting than the beast table. A niche pick outside of very GM-specific circumstances.

---

Summon Elemental - ●

A Tasha's Cauldron addition at the same level as Conjure Woodland Beings. Conjures a single elemental-themed spirit ally that shares your initiative and acts on your verbal command, giving a Ranger elemental-flavored damage and utility without needing to reach for Conjure Woodland Beings' fey theme.

---

5th-Level Spells

Swift Quiver - ●

Your quiver magically produces as much ammunition as you need, and for the duration, each turn you can use a bonus action to make two additional weapon attacks with a ranged weapon. Combined with Extra Attack from your Attack action, a Ranger with Archery Fighting Style goes from two attacks per turn to four. That is the single largest damage-per-round increase available anywhere on the Ranger spell list, full stop - no other spell at any level comes close to doubling your total attack count. The cost is steep at a 5th-level slot and you rarely have more than one or two available, so it functions as a burst-round tool for a boss fight rather than an every-combat spell, but when you cast it, it is the best 5th-level Ranger spell without much competition.

---

Commune with Nature - ●

Momentarily attune to nature within 3 miles (or 300 feet if underground or indoors) and learn up to three facts of your choice about the terrain, powerful creatures, structures, threats, or general characteristics of the area. A pure exploration and reconnaissance tool with no combat application, but valuable at the start of a dungeon delve or before entering unfamiliar wilderness. Worth a known slot for a campaign that rewards scouting ahead; skip it for a game that skips exploration in favor of set-piece encounters.

---

Conjure Volley - ●

A hail of nonmagical weapons rains through a 40-foot-radius, 20-foot-high cylinder centered on a point you choose within 150 feet; every creature in the area (except one you designate) makes a Dexterity save, taking 8d8 damage on a failure or half on success. No concentration, and the area is enormous compared to Conjure Barrage's cone - this is the Ranger's closest equivalent to a Wizard's high-level area spell, and it does not compete with Hunter's Mark or Swift Quiver for your concentration slot. The tradeoff against Swift Quiver at the same level is straightforward: Conjure Volley is a single massive area burst, Swift Quiver is sustained single-target damage across a whole fight. Groups facing swarms of weaker enemies want Conjure Volley; groups facing a single boss want Swift Quiver.

---

Tree Stride - ●

For the duration, you can use your action to step magically into one living tree within reach and out of a second living tree within 500 feet of the first, appearing in an unoccupied space adjacent to it, repeatably each turn. Powerful mobility in a forested or wooded environment, entirely useless in a dungeon, city, or any terrain without living trees to step through. Its usefulness is directly proportional to how much of your campaign happens in actual forest, which for most parties is inconsistent enough to make it a lower priority than the other 5th-level options.

---

Conclave Magic: What Each Subclass Actually Grants

Here is a detail that gets misunderstood constantly: not every Ranger subclass gives you free spells. The two Player's Handbook subclasses, Hunter and Beast Master, grant zero bonus spells on top of your known-spells count. Every spell either one of them knows comes from the exact same small pool covered above. The "Conclave Magic" style feature - an automatic, always-known spell list layered on top of your normal known spells, similar to how a Cleric domain or Warlock patron works - did not exist for Rangers until Xanathar's Guide to Everything introduced it, and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything continued the pattern.

Hot Take: The community's "PHB Ranger subclasses are weak" complaint isn't really about Hunter and Beast Master's class features - Hunter in particular has a perfectly serviceable toolkit. It's a spell-list problem. Every subclass published after the PHB hands you three to five free known spells that never cost you a single slot from your tiny known-spells pool, and Hunter and Beast Master simply don't. A Gloom Stalker effectively has a bigger spell list than a Hunter of the same level for free - that gap compounds every level after 3rd, and it's the real reason the newer subclasses feel so much stronger in actual play.

If you are choosing a subclass with spell selection in mind, here is what each one actually grants and when you get it (always at 3rd level, with the full list unlocking gradually through 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th):

• ● Hunter (PHB) - No Conclave Magic. Your entire spell list comes from your normal known-spells pool covered above.
• ● Beast Master (PHB) - No Conclave Magic. Same as Hunter: no bonus spells of any kind.
• ● Gloom Stalker (Xanathar's) - Disguise Self, Rope Trick, Fear, Greater Invisibility, Seeming. Greater Invisibility as a free Ranger spell is exceptional value on its own; a Gloom Stalker effectively gets one of the best 4th-level spells in the game at no cost to their known-spells count.
• ● Horizon Walker (Xanathar's) - Protection from Evil and Good, Misty Step, Blink, Banishment, Teleportation Circle. Misty Step and Banishment are both strong combat spells that a base Ranger would otherwise have to spend a known slot on.
• ● Monster Slayer (Xanathar's) - Protection from Evil and Good, Charm Person, Hold Person, Counterspell, Banishment, Hold Monster. Free Counterspell access is unique among Ranger subclasses and directly supports the subclass's anti-caster identity.
• ● Fey Wanderer (Tasha's) - Charm Person, Misty Step, Dispel Magic, Dimension Door, Mislead. Dimension Door for free at 4th-slot access is a significant mobility spell most half-casters never see.
• ● Swarmkeeper (Tasha's) - Mage Hand, Faerie Fire, Web, Gaseous Form, Arcane Eye, Insect Plague. A wider, more utility-leaning free list than most other subclasses, with Web and Insect Plague both providing battlefield control most Rangers otherwise pay a known slot for.

The practical takeaway: if you are playing Hunter or Beast Master, treat every single one of your known-spell picks as essential, because you get no free supplement to lean on. If you are playing any Xanathar's or Tasha's subclass, plan your known-spells picks to avoid overlapping with what your subclass already gives you for free - a Gloom Stalker who spends a known slot on a spell functionally similar to Greater Invisibility is wasting a pick that subclass already covers.

---

Spell Picks By Build Archetype

Different Ranger builds want different known-spell priorities. Use this as a starting checklist, then adjust for your specific subclass and campaign.

Archery Damage (Hunter's Mark, single-target focus)

1. Hunter's Mark (1st) - core sustained damage
2. Spike Growth (2nd) - free control that costs nothing when not concentrating on Hunter's Mark
3. Swift Quiver (5th, at 9th character level) - replaces Hunter's Mark on your biggest fights

Archery Area Damage (fewer, bigger targets to spread across)

1. Hail of Thorns (1st) - turns single shots into area bursts
2. Conjure Barrage (3rd) - no-concentration area damage that frees your slot for Hunter's Mark
3. Conjure Volley (5th) - the largest area burst on the list

Melee Control (Ensnaring Strike, Two-Weapon Fighting builds)

1. Ensnaring Strike (1st) - lockdown on a single dangerous target
2. Spike Growth (2nd) - controls the battlefield without competing for your attack economy
3. Freedom of Movement (4th) - removes the grapple and paralysis threats melee Rangers face most

Ambush and Stealth (Gloom Stalker, Skulker-focused builds)

1. Pass Without Trace (2nd) - the party-wide stealth spell every ambush build needs
2. Hunter's Mark (1st) - sustained damage once the ambush round ends
3. Silence (2nd) - shuts down enemy spellcasters caught in the initial strike

---

Spells to Avoid

• Darkvision (2nd) - Only relevant for an all-human or all-low-light-vision party missing darkvision entirely. Most parties already have at least one darkvision race and solve this without a spell slot.
• Water Walk (3rd) - Solves exactly one problem that most campaigns raise rarely enough to not justify a permanent known slot; take only in a nautical or swamp-heavy game.
• Conjure Woodland Beings (4th) - Strictly worse than upcasting Conjure Animals in the overwhelming majority of games; skip unless your GM has specifically made the fey summon table better than the beast one.

---

Verdict

A Ranger's known-spells list should read like a build plan, not a grab bag. Hunter's Mark anchors nearly every archery or single-target build as the default 1st-level pick, Spike Growth is close to a must-know at 2nd level for how consistently it performs across encounter types, and Swift Quiver is the best 5th-level payoff in the class once you can afford it. Beyond those anchors, the right picks depend heavily on your subclass: know whether you are getting free Conclave Magic before you spend a slot duplicating what your subclass already gives you, and know your action economy - bonus action and concentration availability - before committing to anything that needs either. For the full picture of how spells fit into the rest of a Ranger build, see the complete Ranger class guide and the Best Feats for Ranger guide for how War Caster and other feat picks interact with concentration spellcasting.

---

FAQ

What is the best Ranger spell in D&D 5e 2014? Hunter's Mark is the default answer: +1d6 damage on every hit against a marked target for the cost of a bonus action and a 1st-level slot, upcastable to keep pace at every tier. Swift Quiver is the strongest single pick overall once you can afford the trade at 5th-level slots, turning your bow into a second Extra Attack every round.

How many spells does a Ranger know in D&D 5e 2014? A Ranger knows a fixed, small number of spells rather than preparing from the full list like a Cleric or Druid: 2 known at 2nd level, climbing to 11 known by 20th level. You can swap one known spell for a different one whenever you gain a Ranger level, but you never hold more than that fixed count at once.

Do Hunter and Beast Master Rangers get free spells from their subclass? No. This is a common point of confusion. Only the Xanathar's Guide to Everything and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything Ranger subclasses (Gloom Stalker, Horizon Walker, Monster Slayer, Fey Wanderer, Swarmkeeper) grant an automatic Conclave Magic spell list on top of your known-spell count. The two Player's Handbook subclasses, Hunter and Beast Master, grant no bonus spells at all: every spell they know comes out of the same small known-spells pool as a base Ranger.

Is Ensnaring Strike or Hunter's Mark the better 1st-level pick? Hunter's Mark for almost every build: it works from turn one with no attack roll of its own, scales its value with every extra attack you gain, and stays useful against any creature. Ensnaring Strike only triggers restrain on your next hit and needs a Strength save to matter, so it is the better pick specifically for melee Rangers who want a lockdown tool against a single large threat rather than sustained single-target damage.

Should a Ranger take Swift Quiver at 5th-level slots? Yes, for any archery-focused Ranger who reaches 9th level. Swift Quiver replaces your Attack action's arrows with two bonus-action shots on top of it, meaning a Ranger with Extra Attack and Archery Fighting Style is making four attacks a turn instead of two. No other 5th-level Ranger spell comes close to that damage-per-round increase, and the concentration cost is worth paying over Hunter's Mark once you have this option.

---

Continue Exploring

For the full class breakdown (subclasses, ability scores, race and feat synergy, and level-by-level builds), see the D&D 5e Ranger Guide. For which feats to prioritize alongside these spells, see Best Feats for Ranger. Or return to the D&D 5e Class Guides hub to compare every class.

---

Want a GM who runs this system with deep rules knowledge? Find a professional game master who knows the rules cold.